Overview
There’s a reason becoming a teaching assistant (TA) is such a popular career choice: there are plentiful opportunities for career development, you’re making a real difference, and each and every day brings its own set of challenges that will provide you with opportunities to use your skills and talents to change lives. Plus, there’s the added bonus of approximately thirteen weeks of school holiday each year!
This version of our teaching assistant qualification has no placement requirement. However, this does restrict what you can do after you graduate. It’s also an excellent way to gain a solid foundation of knowledge before moving on to courses that will fully qualify you to work as a TA such as our NCFE CACHE Level 3 Certificate in Supporting Teaching and Learning.
This is the most up-to-date version of the Supporting Teaching and Learning In Schools Level 3 Award, released January 2018. You don’t need any qualifications or experience to enrol in this online TA course, and you can work in your own time, at your own pace. You’ll cover a range of topics, such as how schools work as organisations and how to support children in the classroom. You’ll look at safeguarding, health and safety, developmental theories, child and young person development, and much more. This RQF will be an extremely valuable addition to your CV and is sure to advance your employment opportunities within the sector.
What you'll learn
This unit will start you off with an overview of the structure of education from early years to higher education. You’ll cover the structures of education including how schools are organised, school ethos, mission, aims and values, legislative and policy frameworks, as well as the broader context of which schools operate.
You’ll take away from this unit the skills to support children and young people’s health and safety in a learning environment. You’ll learn to recognise, manage and assess risks to health, safety and security and be able to react to accidents, incidents, and emergencies; and find out how to administer medication too.
The government has put in place mechanisms for everyone who works with children to be able to spot a problem, this unit will focus on building your understanding of how to do this. You’ll learn safeguarding and child protection as well as Acts that are put in place to protect children from serious harm. You’ll also learn how safeguarding laws affect practice and working in partnership with other services and support teams to share concerns, information, and responsibility and how to handle and share that information appropriately.
Next, you’ll be able to respond to signs of abuse and harm including emotional, neglect, physical and sexual as well as learning how to report it. You’ll have a broader understanding of bullying and how to respond to it as well as how to encourage staying safe on the internet and mobiles. Mental health is a hot topic in society, this unit will advise you on supporting children with mental health problems and how to spot the signs and symptoms of these. Lastly, you’ll learn how to protect yourself, including sharing personal information with children, duty of care and whistleblowing.
Ever wondered why we give pupils grades, or put them in groups to learn or why over time schools moved away from punishment to reward systems of behaviour management? This unit will give you an insight into the ‘why’ of the way schools do things and hopefully give you a better understanding of how children learn.
We develop in a certain sequence: we learn to sit before we stand, walk before we run and so on. But because we are all unique and affected by different factors in our lives, the rate (how quickly) we go through the sequence will be different. Throughout this unit, you’ll learn physical development of children including social, emotional and behavioural development, physical development, cognitive development, communication development from the ages of seven to nineteen years old.
Finally, you’ll gain understanding of the factors that affect children and young people’s development, how to monitor their development, and how to intervene if they are not following the expected routine. This unit will cover the importance of early intervention to support the speech, language and communication needs of children and young people as well as, the potential effects of transitions on them. Concluding this unit will provide you with the skills you’ll need to support children and make a difference in the classroom.
Extra info
Awarding Body
CACHE stands for the Council for Awards in Care, Health and Education, and are the leading specialist Awarding Organisation for the Care and Education Sector.
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Course Outcome
At the end of this course, successful learners will receive the following qualification: NCFE CACHE Level 3 Award in Supporting Teaching and Learning. This means that it is independently accredited at a level of learning equivalent to Level 3 on the National Qualifications Framework (NQF) for England, Wales and Northern Ireland.
NCFE CACHE has been developing courses in the childcare, education and healthcare sectors since 1945 and is one of the most reputable awarding bodies for qualifications in the UK and overseas. Practitioners working in these areas are much more employable having gained NCFE CACHE certification and many employers specifically ask for their qualifications when taking on members of staff.
How is this course assessed or examined?
There are four mandatory units that must be successfully completed to achieve this qualification. Students are required to compile a portfolio of evidence which demonstrates their learning against each of the assessment criteria of the course
This is a regulated qualification that is internally assessed and externally quality assured. Staff involved in the assessment and internal quality assurance of this qualification are able to demonstrate that they have the relevant occupational knowledge and competence, at the same level or higher as the units being evaluated.
The completion of an ‘Evidence Record’ form and ‘Record of Assessment Cycle’ form is mandatory. This will be provided and your tutor will detail exactly what is needed.
Entry requirements
There are no formal entry requirements for this course, however, it is recommended that you have an intermediate ability to read and write English. There is a minimum study age of 16.
